Door-operating device



I; W ma.

T. BRADY.

Patented Jan. 17, 1922. /0 il DOOR OPERATING DEVICE.

Q8 zo /2 APPLICATION FILED DEC. I8, 1919.

Sme/miro@ 7 mms md UNITED STATES THOMAS BRADY, OF WOODCLIFF, NEW JERSEY.

DOOR-OPERATING DEVICE.

Application led December 18, 1919.

To all fw hom t may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS BRADY, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Vioodclii, Bergen County, and State of NewJersey, have linvented certain new and useful Improvements inDoor-Operating Devices, of which the following is a speciiication,reference being had to the accompanying drawing7 forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to improvements in door operating devices, andespecially for such as are used as a part of elevator closures. Itsobject is to provide a simple, inexpensive and effective arrangement bymeans of which the door may be locked in its closed position, may beopened easily by an operator and will close automatically. Anotherobject is to so construct the parts that they may be easily installed inthe narrow space between an elevator liatchway closure and an elevatorcar. Further objects are to provide a simple arrangement for adjustingthe closing springs, and to so construct a dash pot as to make it leakproof.

These and other objects of the invention will appear in the Jfollowingspecification in which I will describe my invention and the novelfeatures of which will be set forth in appended claims. f

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation of an elevator door with a mechanism appliedthereto which is made according to and embodies this invention. In thisfigure the door and its associated parts are shown in full lines in thepositions which they assume when the door is closed, and the positionswhich some of the parts assume when the door is open are indicated bybroken lines.

Figure 2 is a sectional end elevation ol the parts shown in Figure 1,the section being taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of the improved dash pot.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures or' the drawing.

10 designates a stationary part oi' an elevator hatchway closure, and 11a sliding door. 12 is the threshold or'a part oic the floor. Themechanism which I have shown as an embodiment of this inventioncomprises a housing 2O which is ailixed to the threshold 12 between thehatcliway closure and the path of the eleva-tor car. PivotedSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 17, 1922.

serial No. 345,799.

to this housing is a gear sector 22 having a radially projecting holderor stub-arm 24 within or to which is tiXedly secured a niember whichtogether with the sector constitutes a swinging lever 23. This leverextends upwardly through a strap 24 pivoted of the lever terminating ina handle 27.'

This arrangement provides a simple locking means between the door andswinging lever as will be readily understood. Projecting trom one sideof the stub-arm 24', for a purpose hereinafter mentioned, is a pair ofears 2S.

The housing 2O is lconstructed with an upstanding rib provided withholes which receive the lower ends of a plurality of spiral springs 32.The upper ends of these springs are secured to loops 33 which surroundthe arm 31 and through the upper ends of which are threaded adjustingbolts 34 whereby the tension of the springs may be varied. l

It desired an automatic cut-out switch 38 may be mounted on the housingand connected by a link 39 with the arm 31 and arranged to be operatedthereby.

40 designates a dash pot, the lower end 41 of which is pivoted to thehousing 20. 42 isa piston within this dash pot and 43 is a ball checkvalve in the piston. A piston rod 44, which passes through a stung box45 extends between the ears 28, on the stubarin 24 ot the sector 22 andis held in position therebetween by a pin 46. Theupper end oi' thepiston rod is threaded to receive adjusting nuts 47 on. either side ofthe ears 2S. 48 is a by-pass from the lower end of the cylinder of thedash pot to a. port 49 near the upper part of the dash pot. 50 is a`valve seat in the by-pass'below port 49 and 51 a threaded shank of aneedle valve which is adapted to screw into an extension of the bypassabove port 49. This dash pot is constructed to operate with oil and theoil level therein is shown at 52.

I will now describe the manner in which this device operates. Let usassume that the parts are in the positions in which they are shown infull lines in Figure 1. The elevator door` 11 is then locked because ofthe fact that the pin 26 in the strap 24 is in engagement with one ofthe notches 25 in the lever 23. However, since the strap 24 is somewhatwider Vthan the lever '23 it is possible to lift the lever 23 away fromthe pin 2G thus unlatching the door. The lever is first lifted clear ofthe pin 26 and a continued movement to the right will cause the door tobe moved back to the position in which it is shown in dotted lines. Thismovement will be increasingly opposed by the springs 32 but at the sametime the leverage increases as the door opens by reason of the leversliding up into the strap 24.

The engagement of gear teeth 22 with the gear segment 30 will cause thearm 3l to be raised during the opening movement of the door to therebyincrease the tension on the springs 32. During the opening movement ofthe door the piston in the dash pot will move, without opposition,toward the upper end of the cylinder since the check valve 43 duringthis movement is forced away from its seat by the liquid passing downthrough the piston as will be readily understood.

As soon, however, as the operator lets goof the handle 27, the springs32 pull down on arm 3l and thereby rotating the sector 22 and swing thelever 23 in a direction to close the door. This movement will be opposedby the dash pot the check valve 43 closing the port within the pistonwhich consequently can only descend at a rate determined by the pressureexerted by the springs and by the rate at which the oil is able to passthrough the by-pass 48 past the needle Valve and into the dash pot abovethe piston through port 49. By keeping the oil level loW, two functionsare obtained :-irst, the initial movement of the lever 23 and of theelevator door will not be materially opposed because piston 42 at firstwill be moving through air; second, because the regulating valve at alltimes will be above the oil level and oil tight because the thread ofthe shank of the needle valve is never subjected to oil under pressure.In fact, as soon as the oil passing through the by-pass past the needlevalve reaches the port 49, it may flow freely into the cylinder Vandtherefore has no tendency to go out through the threaded hole into whichthe needle valve shank 51 fits. Y

When the door has nearly reached its closed position, the first of thenotches 25 will come into engagement with the pin 26 thereby preventingthe door from being opened even though the same should not be completelyclosed.

If, as is often desired, a cut-out switch is used in connection with thedoor operating mechanism, such a `switch as that shown at 38, may beemployed.` It is obvious that the link 39 connecting arm 3l with thisswitch housing,

will actuate the switch and the circuit may be so arranged that it willbe impossible to start the car until the door is closed.

From the foregoing description,- it may be seen that the whole apparatusoccupies a very narrow space, such as that found in most existingelevator installations, and that it lends itself to easy and quickinstallation. It is also evident that the springs 32 may be readilyadjusted to provide the, desiredamount of closing pressure upon lever23. This closing pressure is continually exerted upon the door whichwhen open to any extent will be closed thereby and locked in the mannerdescribed. The dash pot will prevent the door from slamming` closed, asit will exert a strong retarding eect upon the closing pressure of lever23 at the end of its door closing movement.

Variations in the construction and arrangement of parts may be madewithin the spirit and scope of this invention, and I intend nolimitations other than those imposed by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A door operating device comprising a swinging lever arranged forconnection with a door near one end, a plurality of springs connected inthe plane of the movement of the lever arranged to swing the lever inthe direction to close the door, and a dash pot in alinement with thelever and the springs and connected with the lever arranged to retardthe movement thereof in the door closing direction and arranged to swingin a plane parallel with the plane of the movement of thel lever.

2. A door operating device comprising a housing, a swinging leverpivoted in the housing and arranged for connection with a door near oneend, an arm pivoted in the housing geared to the lever, and a pluralityof actuating springs connected with the arm and with the housing.

3. A door operatingdevice comprising a a swinging lever pivoted in thehousing and arranged for connection with a door near one end, an armpivoted in the housing geared to the lever, a plurality of actuatingsprings connected with the arm and with the housing, and means foradjusting said springs.

'4. A door operating device comprising a housing, a swinging leverpivoted in the housing' and arranged for connection with a door near oneend, an arm pivoted in the housing geared to the lever at one sidethereof, a plurality of actuating springs connected with the arm andwith the housing, and a dash pot on the other side of the lever pivotedto said housing.

5. In a door-operating device, the combination with a support, a pair oflevers pivoted thereto, mea-ns for swinging the levers in unison inopposite directions, one of the levers being connected to a door, andmeans connected to the other lever for moving it about its pivot.

6. In a door-operating device, the combination With a support, a. pairof Vlevers pivoted thereto, means for swinging the levers in unison inopposite direct-ions, one oi' the levers being slidably connected to a.door, and means connected to the other lever for moving it about itspivot.

7. In a door-operating device, the combination with a support, a. pairof levers pivoted thereto on parallel axes, means for swinging thelevers in unison in opposite directions, one of the levers beingconnected to a door. and means connected to the other lever for movingit about its pivot- 8. In a dooroperating device, bination with asupport. a pair pivoted thereto on parallel axes to swing in a commonplane, means for swinging the levers in unison in opposite directions,

one of the levers being connected to a door,

the comof levers and means connected to the other lever for moving itabout its pivot.

9. In a door-operating device, the combination With a support, a pair oflevers pivoted thereto on parallel axes, means ior swinging the leversin unison in opposite directions, one of the levers being comiected to adoor, means connected to the other lever for moving it about its pivot,and means connected to one of said levers for cushioning said last-namedmeans.

10. In a door-operating device the combination with a. support, of apair of levers pivoted to swing about parallel axes in unison inopposite directions, a dash pot pivotally connected to one of saidlevers and to the support on axes parallel to the first-named axes,resilient means connected to one of said levers to turn the same aboutits pivot, said dash pot serving to prolong the action of the resilientmeans, and means slidably connecting one of said levers to a door.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day ofDecember, 1919.

THOMAS BRADY.

